Return To Me
by Anime Chick
Summary: *sniffles* A Gene/Melfina story. Gene suffers large consequences of some of his reckless actions. This is soooo sad!
1. Part One

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Disclaimer: As much as I'd love to, I really don't own OLS. So please don't sue me!!  
Story By: Anime Chick (aka AC)  
Rated: PG-13: This is very depressing. A warning to you all! Don't read if you can't handle the depression! I almost cried while writing this! A bit of swearing as well. And don't think I'm some depressed girl with mental issues, because this is just to test my writing ability.  
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I'm almost didn't put this up, but okay. This is my first attempt at a serious OLS fic. I've only written insane ones so far, I'm sure you're all familiar with Gene's powerpuff girl rampage and the target ventures...but I'm gonna go a bit more serious with this one. I personally think I couldn't write meaningful stories if they hit me in the face, but I'll give it a try. The characters are a bit out of character, but I kinda had to warp it a bit. Let's say the emotion she felt made Melfina a little more outgoing. -_-()  
I put up the second part as well, kinda to show what happens afterwards. I had to end part one where I did, ya know, for the effect, hehe. I tried to make this story 'meaningful', though I doubt it worked...ah well! Enough ranting, on with the fic!  
  
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Part One  
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She shivered as another forceful cascade of water enveloped her fragile body as yet another car drove past in a mad fury, kicking up the water in the flooded streets. She choked back her tears, but couldn't hold them in as the water cleaned them off her face. She panted deeply, trying not to breathe in the water from the blast as she ran down the sidewalk. Nor the rain that pounded down on her soaked body. Her shoes smacked the pavement continuously, kicking up even more water from the many puddles as she pushed herself further. Further away. They hit the ground in equal rhythm as her fast beating heart. The street was dark, the moon covered by ominous clouds, leaving only the weak light from the streetlights to guide her. The wild cadences of her feet and heart drove her on. Her raven hair plastered to her face.   
"Where am I going?" she thought miserably, "Why am I even here? It's true. I am only a puppet. No one will ever love me for who I am. I'm only here for people to torture me! To ridicule me! But why? Why did my days of happiness have to end this way?"  
She panted, trying to take as much air out of the dampness. It was humid, possibly too humid. She was soaked from head to toe, her socks completely drenched, her coat the only thing that barely protected her from the coldness of the rain. There would come a time soon where she would have to stop for a rest. The pain in her side precluded her from travling much farther, but she had to get away.  
She cried out in pain as the toe of her shoe caught in a crack in the sidewalk and she lost her balance, falling forward onto the cold stone. Her body rang out with pain as her soft body connected with the harshly solid ground, with an unmistakable cracking sound as her arm exploded into pain. She had tried to brake her fall with her other hand, but now noticed a deep cut that ran along her palm and wrist. Her back must have hit the ground the wrong way also, for it too burned with a sharp pain. It was excruciating, and horribly unpleasant. The cold rain beat down on her, and she shivered violently, only to move her broken arm to cause even more pain.   
The pain was so immense...and she needed air, but it was almost impossible to draw in breath. The rain contantly pelted her, more forceful than ever, smuthering her so that she felt like she was drowning. She was drowning. Drowning.   
  
  
"What do you mean, Melfina?"  
"Nothing! I...I..."  
"What? Melfina, what's bothering you?"  
"Gene...I...well...the leyline..."  
"What about it? Mel, the leyline's history."  
"Don't you remember what you said? You promised me...you said that you would-"  
"That I would what, Mel? Take care of you? That's what I'm doing. Jim and I make enough money to support you,"  
"Gene...that's not what I meant..."  
"Then what? What more could you possibly want? We live a pretty descent life!"  
"Gene...I...I love you!"  
"I love you too Mel,"  
"No you don't!"  
"What do you mean? Of coarse I do!"  
"Then why do you sneak out every night? Why are you always saying that you have some promising job every night? I follow you Gene. I see you go into Club Temptation. I know what you do."  
  
  
Drowning. That was how she had felt at the leyline. She always thought she would go on forever, secretly loving him. After they had shared that kiss...that kiss that haunted her still today, she thought everything would be okay. She thought finally she would get her chance at a happy life...she thought it would last forever...just her and Gene. Though Gene was never one for commitment...  
She was gasping for breath now, her lungs aching for dry air. If she didn't get off the saturated ground and out of the rain soon, she surely was done for.   
She took as much of a deep breath as she could, and used her good arm to push herself up into a sitting position. It would have worked if her back and arm didn't strike with fiery pain as she fell back to the ground again with yet another cry of pain. What was the point of this? She couldn't return now anyways. If she lived, she wouldn't have a place to go. And what would the world care if she was gone? She wasn't even a real person. Just a thing. Things were disposable.   
  
  
"Melfina...what are you saying?"  
"That I'm not good enough for you. I never have, and never will be."  
"Of coarse you are! Melfina, you're my perfect match!"  
"Your 'perfect match' is someone who dances on table tops and charges you for their love. You promised me something you can't keep,"  
"Melfina! Listen to what you're saying! You know that's not true! You're the only one I love."  
"Gene! Don't touch me! Why don't you go on down to your club. I'm sure all of your girlfriends will be there to wave you in on a red carpet. You've probably slept with half the town. I wouldn't be surprised."  
  
  
Were those really her words? Was she really saying those things? Had she really pushed Gene away like that, when all she wanted to do was to accept his embrace? Why? Why? Why? All the hurt and suffering fit into those three damn letters.  
Her tears mingled with the rain that poured onto her collapsed body, which was still sprawled on the sidewalk. How long had she been there? A minute? Five minutes? What did it matter? It was only a matter of time anyways before she was found or...  
She didn't want to admit to herself. She was in great peril of dying. Dying a poor, unwanted bio-android who was nothing more than a piece of a ship.  
Then why did she feel so strongly? Her emotions were just like those of a regular person. But she wasn't a regular person. Oh, how she hated being nothing more than a bio-android. No wonder Gene didn't love her. She wasn't a real person.  
"Someone come get me," she thought bitterly, "Someone find me...someone...please..." she thought desperatly, but declared her silent pleas useless, as the streets remained deserted. The rain relentless.  
She was in desperate need of oxygen now. Still breathing hard, she no doubt was taking in water as well. This sure was the best way to get pneumonia. Could androids even get pneumonia? She had never been sick before. Why did she even have to breath? Do androids really need oxygen to function? Her heart beat furiously against her chest. Her heartbeat, was that even real? The pain still existed in her arm, and her back. Though she knew she had to sit up. It was either sit up or die.   
  
  
"Why are you doing this? What's wrong with you! Why are you acting this way?"  
"Why should you care? You don't care about anything but your obsessions."  
"Fine then Mel. Then...then I don't love you. Is that what you wanted to hear? Is that what you want? Are you satisified now?"  
"..."  
"Answer me, damnit!"  
"How could you? How could you promise me so much and not even fulfill barely half of it?"  
"I just can't Melfina! I just can't. I don't know why, but I can't. All this is making my head hurt."  
"Oh you, you, you. All you can ever think about is yourself!"  
"Well maybe I can't. Melfina, just leave. Just go. I can't face you now."  
"Why should I listen to you?"  
"I said go! Get the hell away from me! I can't take this! I can't!"  
  
  
She closed her eyes, remembering the events of the past evening. Why were things so different than they had been before the leyline? How was she be so bold with her accusations? Why had Gene reacted that way? Was he even sorry? He knew how sensitive she was, and yet how could he do such a thing? So many questions. But why were there no answers? Why? Why? Why?  
More hot tears. She tried to sit up one last time, but cried out in pain from her arm and back, and again more pain when she hit the ground again. She bit her lip, bit it so hard she could taste the blood in her mouth, "This blood..." she thought to herself, "Is this blood even real? It's probably artificial too. Just like me."  
No. This was the last thing she could have ever wanted at this moment. In the distance she could see the headlights of a car. Wait no...there were two cars. One was a truck. She might be able to handle a splash from one car now, but not two splashes. Much less one from a large truck, and no doubt she would drown. So this was it. The last moments of her life. There was no point in going on. No point in living.  
Gene. The XGP15-A2. Gillium.  
She felt her tears mingling with the rain as they ran into the puddle she was lying in. The rain refused to let up. "How fitting..." she thought, "that I should die on a night like this. It seems to sum up most of my life..." She shivered violently as the cold rain continued to beat upon her.  
Jim. Aisha. Suzuka. Hilda.  
The cars were close now. Their beams shining so radiantly. The last lights she'd ever see. They became blurry in her gaze, as her eyes blurred with the tears that refused to stop. Just like the rain. They would become part of the rain. To evaporate and rain down again, to rain down on Gene in the future. He would sit in the window...watching the rain...unbeknownst that her tears came down with those drops.  
Sentinel III. Planet Tenrai. Hayfong. The Leyline.   
Her life flashed before her eyes as the car was on the brink of connecting with the puddle that lay adjacent to where she lay. She closed her eyes, waiting for it to come. Waiting to an end, an end to the misery.  
"Why?" she cried out as the first car sped through the puddle, and the massive water pounding down onto her, leaving her choking on it, taking it in. Her words lost in the wind. Her nose and lungs burning so viciously. When the truck hit the puddle, a second cascade wreaked havoc upon her lungs. She was choking now, so horribly she couldn't even cry out.  
Why?  
After a few more moments of the inevitable stuggle, she realized the fight was lost, and surrendered herself to the rain.   
  
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Okay, I know it sucked but please don't flame me because I got you depressed! I screwed one too many things. Okay, maybe alot of things. If you thought it was okay, I suggest you read the last chapter! ^_^  
Note: Some people were complaining that this chapter was a ripoff, but I really don't know what of! I'm sorry if it appears to you that way, but I just sat at the computer the other night and typed the first thing that came to mind. I hope it doesn't seem too unoriginal, but if you want original read my Target story or the PowerPuff girl rampaging story. Those are some original OLS for you all! 


	2. Part Two

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Part Two  
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Gene sat silently in the hospital waiting room. He hadn't even noticed all the pretty girls in the room, for once in a long while. He concentraited on nothing more than those white doors that led to where they had taken Melfina...  
Jim sat in a chair next to Suzuka and Aisha on the other side of the room. Gene had sat far from where they were, facing the doors that led to the intesive care and emergency rooms.  
"I can't believe this..." Aisha said, teary eyed.  
"I know..." Jim said. It was a good thing he had seen Melfina on his way home. Though he doubted the hospital would be able to keep her alive. She had looked pretty serious...though she lay unconscious she still had a slight pulse...  
Suzuka didn't say anything. She only sipped her tea and stared off into space, as if in deep thought.  
"Why is Gene acting so weirdly?" Aisha asked, blowing her nose.  
"I dunno..." Jim said somberly. He glanced over at Gene, who sat still, silent and unmoving. Just looking. Just looking at the doors. He hadn't shown any signs of emotion, at all. Except when Jim had called him from the car asking him to met him at the hospital...  
"D'ya suppose he's real shaken up or something and doesn't want us to see?" Aisha asked, "Maybe we should try and talk to him."  
"No," Suzuka said, breaking from her trance-like behavior, "I think it's best if we leave him alone."  
Jim nodded, "I don't think we should mess with him now..."  
  
  
"Why did I do it?" Gene thought bitterly, "Why did I do it? Melfina's dying right now, and it's all because of what I did. If I hadn't been so hotheaded none of this would have happened. I can't live with this. I can't live knowing that the last thing I said to her..." he shook it off.  
He groaned as he brought his hand up and rested his face in it, then runned it through his hair. He finally stood up and starting walking towards the lady at the counter. "Why are my legs so shakey? Since when did I become unstable on my feet besides when I went into space again? Is this fear?" He thought.  
"Yes, sir?" The lady said, with a large smile.  
"How can you smile?" Gene thought angrily, "How can you smile at a time like this you stupid bitch!"  
"Can I help you?" the lady asked. Her faced turned to looking concerned. His thoughts must have shown on his face.  
"Yeah," he said, "Is there any news on Melfina?"  
"Melfina?"  
"You know, the girl with the broken arm...who..." Gene closed his eyes as he added, "Who drowned?" having to practically force the painful words out.  
"I told you that I'd notify you when something comes up. I believe they are putting her on life support. Now please go and have a seat where you were and I will-"  
"I don't want to sit down!" Gene said loudly, causing some people in the quiet waiting room to turn and stare.  
"Sir, please don't cause any disruptions-"  
"I am NOT disrupting!" he growled, "Let me see Melfina!"  
"I'm sorry, sir, but there are no visitors at this moment. I will let you know when Melfina is accepting visitors."  
"Melfina is dying right now and you won't let me tell her something? You won't let me resolve anything? I'm going to have to live with the fact that I killed her!" Gene screamed, now causing everyone in the room to stare at him.  
"Oh my god..." Jim said so quietly only Suzuka and Aisha could hear, "What did he do?"  
"Sir? Are you implying that you murdered Mrs. Melfina?" the lady said, looking at him as though he were some evil pirate.  
"No! I got into a horrible fight with her and she ran outside and drowned in the rain!" Gene said. He could almost feel his eyes burning at this. "No..." he thought, "I am not going to cry. I never cry. I didn't even cry when dad died, or when Hilda died...or even when I was stranded...all alone. That's how I was before Melfina...why did this have to happen?"  
Aisha put her hand up to her mouth and muttered, "Oh my..." before praying silently to her Ctarl Ctarl gods.  
Jim's eyes went wide, "I...I can't believe this!" he thought.  
"You'll have to sit down, sir,"  
"I will not sit down! Let me in the damn room!"  
"Would you please follow our policy? The doctor should be out shortly!" the lady said, starting to get annoyed.  
"Fine." Gene shouted. On his way back to his seat he kicked a metal bookshelf that held magazines, leaving a large dent in the side. The lady at the counter didn't say anything.  
"Melfina!" he thought when he had sat down, "Oh Mel, why did I ever do this to you? What drove me over the edge? You were perfect. Almost angelic. The way you walked, the sound of your voice. I loved everything about you Melfina. So why did I do this? Because I know I'll never be faithful to you? Oh Mel, you deserve someone so much higher than myself. Harry, if Harry was alive...though he may be feared across the galaxy and was a little crazy in the head, he never would have done this to you. He loved you, as much as I do maybe, but why can't I ever show it like he did? What's wrong with me?" he felt his cerulean eyes burning again, "Damnit...damn it all." he said aloud, fighting back those damn tears that threatened to streak down his face.  
  
  
"I can't believe this," Jim said aloud, for the twelfth time, "Gene didn't even go this psycho when Hilda died!"  
Aisha sniffled again, "I never saw this coming..."  
Jim's eyes went downcast, "Even Aisha's not quite herself today..."  
  
  
Another monotonous ten minutes past, until finally the lady at the counter becconed Gene to the deck.  
"Is there any news?" Gene asked, hurriedly.  
"Yes. The doctor wishes to meet with you. Through that door, please. He's in the hall." The lady said, pointing to a door to Gene's left.  
"Okay, thanks," Gene said, as he burst throught the door. "Hospitals..." he muttered. "I've come to hate them."  
"Ah yes, Mr. Starwind?" said a middle-aged doctor who stood in the hallway.  
"Melfina, can I see Melfina?" Gene asked.  
"Right this way please." They walked down the hall and turned into yet another corridor, where he opened one of the doors that all looked the same to Gene, and inside was Melfina, laying on a hospital bed, hooked up to all kinds of machines.  
"Melfina!" Gene said, but her eyes remained closed. He rushed to her side and gently touched her cheek, "You poor thing! Mel, I can't even begin to tell you...I'm...I'm so sorry..."  
"Sir, this is pretty hard for me to say," The doctor began.  
"No," Gene thought, "No," he closed his eyes tightly. He had heard those words before. Standing behind his father when he was only a child.   
"I'm so sorry Mr. Starwind. This is pretty hard to say," the doctor had told he and his father, "But Mrs. Starwind will only last about another night. The cancer has destroyed her liver, and she will not be able to live much longer."  
"No!" Gene's dad had said, "She will live, oh Molly! You won't die!"  
Gene had been too young to understand. He could only stand next to his father as the doctor told them the news. The news that his mother would die.  
"Are you okay, Sir?" the doctor said, snapping Gene out of his flashback.  
"Yeah, I'm fine," Gene lied.  
"What I was saying was, Melfina has taken in a large amount of water. You see her here, unconscious. Even with the machines breathing is very painful for her. Her arm is in a cast, as you can see as well. She recieved quite a few scratches and bruises, particularly on her back. But the fact that she took in so much water...Melfina cannot survive without these machines to support her. You, Sir must make a discision." the doctor said, grimly.  
"And what would that be?" Gene asked, secretly not wanting to know.  
"If you wish for Melfina to live, she will live in great pain, not to mention she will need these machines at all times, which would be very costly."  
"Or?"  
"You can take the machines away from her now and let her die peacefully. The girl's been through one heck of alot."  
Gene tried not to choke on his own tounge, "No!" he sputtered, shaking his head, "No, this isn't happening. This wasn't supposed to happen!"  
"Nothing like this was ever meant to happen, but it does. You must descide now. If I were you, I'd let her die. If you really loved her, you wouldn't want her to suffer anymore."  
"I..." Gene couldn't get the words out, "I...if we...if we must...then...then take away the machines." he said, wishing those words had not come out of his mouth.  
"Very well then. I will remove the machines. Do you want to be alone with her while she dies?"  
"Yes, of coarse," Gene said.  
The doctor removed the machines from Melfina, nodded slightly to Gene and left the room, shutting the door behind him.   
"Melfina?" Gene asked, "Mel, if you can hear me now, please give me a sign, anything!"  
Melfina lay lifeless.  
"Melfina!" Gene said, shaking her as gently as he could.  
Her eyelids fluttered, and she opened them ever so slightly to meet Gene's.  
"Mel...this wasn't supposed to happen," Gene said, sitting on the edge of the bed and taking her hand, "I...I didn't mean what I said. I didn't really know what to think, and now that this has happened..."  
Melfina tilted her head to the side, trying not to face him. Her breathing struggled and raspy.  
"Mel...don't turn away from me. This is my last chance to tell you...that...that I love you," he said, swallowing, his mouth feeling very dry, "To me you aren't a tool. I would never use you. I don't know why I made it seem that way today, or why I did sneak out at night, but Mel..." he paused.  
Melfina turned back to him, and he could see the tears in her eyes.  
"You...you mean everything to me..." Gene finally said. He put his hand to the side of her face and wiped away the tears, "Don't cry," he said, "Everything is going to be okay." though he knew it wouldn't be. He squeezed her hand very softly, and ran his other hand through her tangled hair.  
Melfina whimpered, closing her eyes as she felt his touch. She looked at him, with those solemn, sparkling hazel eyes, and suddenly started coughing through her labored breathing, a bit of water leaking from her mouth. She put her good hand on her chest as she coughed and choked violently.  
"Don't!" Gene said, "Stop, stop coughing, please!" he said, but it was useless. Melfina was choking to death. He put his arms around her waist and lifted her gently into a sitting position, where he let her rest forward on his chest. She buried her face there, where she continued choking.  
And that was when Gene finally let go of the tears that he had fought back all along, forgetting his pride for once. Whenever something like this happened, he could only feel anger, but now nothing mattered. Nothing but Melfina. He should be angry. He should go and beat that stupid doctor. But when it came down to it...it wasn't the doctor who brought this about. He buried his own face in her hair, "Everything's going to be okay, Melfina. Everything's fine,"  
Melfina knew at last she would be at peace. Though she lay here, painfully choking to her death, she would be fine as long as Gene was here to hold her until she left this world. A world that had only brought her pain and misery, unless she was near him. And maybe her life really did have purpose. Maybe she wasn't only created as a piece of a ship, or a puppet. She wasn't given emotions just for thrills, she knew how to love.  
The next few moments seemed like an eternity. Gene didn't know how long he was there, how long it took for Melfina's coughs to die down until her heart beat so softly he could barely feel it. It didn't matter. Gene only wanted Melfina to be alive and well again, which he knew was something that would never come true.  
Melfina finally coughed her last, and her body gave way in Gene's arms.   
Sometimes things seem too good to be true to last forever. If there was any way to turn back the hands of time, Gene would have made things different. So different. And he never throught one day he would be here, at this hospital. He never thought things would come to this. Ever. All of it surreal, and even to this day he never forgot those long minutes he spent, just holding the now lifeless Melfina. Her raven black hair, those mystical eyes now shut for eternity. Quiet, shy, though in all her radiance. Her invisionment like a phantom in his mind, just a figure in his memory. Never again would he see the day when he'd return from a job to see her, standing there, smiling and greeting him home, and he always knew how happy she was just knowing that he had returned to her.  
  
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*sniffles* Thanks for reading! 


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